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Pedicab drivers pay lip service to pedestrians or red lights, squeezing between moving cars; the ride looks extremely unsafe for its passengers, and probably is. They should be allowed in Central Park only.

I guess the DOT Commissioner Ira Weinshall ( I think that's how you pronounce the name) do not share your views Edward. She testified before the City Council saying that they should not be allowed in city parks, only on mad-busy streets of Manhattan...

It's often impossible to catch a cab in midtown. I think they need to add still more taxis, and then maybe there wouldn't be such demand for the pedicabs. It seems like everytime I'm standing at an intersection and someone gets in one of these things, it's because they tried unsuccessfully to hail a regular cab. I see how they fill a real need for shorter-distance rides.
Tourists seem to have fun in them as well, taking in sights as they ride along.
That said, I've also seen them swerve dangerously close to cars.

Pedicab drivers pay lip service to pedestrians or red lights, squeezing between moving cars; the ride looks extremely unsafe for its passengers, and probably is. They should be allowed in Central Park only.

That's what traffic tickets are for. In any event, you can ride a bicyle in city streets. You can drive a semi down most city streets, which are filled with jaywalking pedestrians. The pedicabs seem to be about the LEAST dangerous thing on the road.

I'd rather see streets congested with pedicabs and bicycles than SUV's with a single fat goomba yakking on his cell phone and ignoring every rule of the road.

Pedicabs might actually be a danger or nuisance to motor vehicles, in which case, motor vehicles ought to be more strictly controlled or be banned outright.

I agree with your comments about single driver SUVs in the city but hear this.. Do you live in Amsterdam BR?.. If not you should think about moving there. You, pedicabs and bicycles would be a perfect match in Amsterdam...

January 22, 2007 -- The city plans to ban pedicabs that use electric motors, in a move that advocates contend will cripple the industry.

Although "electrical assist" motors do not power the bicycle rickshaws, only making it slightly easier to pedal them, the City Council has determined that pedicabs must remain purely sweat-powered vehicles, sources said.

Of the 500 pedicabs working the streets, roughly 20 percent use electrical assist, advocates say, but that number has steadily increased because the motors allow drivers to make more money and work longer.

"The electrical assist makes pedicabs safer, and it enables us to have long-term professional drivers," said Chad Marlow, spokesman for the NYC Pedicab Owners Association.

The city plans to ban pedicabs that use electric motors, in a move that advocates contend will cripple the industry.

Although "electrical assist" motors do not power the bicycle rickshaws, only making it slightly easier to pedal them, the City Council has determined that pedicabs must remain purely sweat-powered vehicles, sources said.